Mentally Ill 'Overrepresented' In Canadian Jails: Report

OTTAWA - More than one in four Canadians hospitalized for mental illness have
had brushes with the law, but researchers aren't sure whether mental illness
breeds delinquency or whether jailing people makes them more prone to psychiatric
problems, according to a report released Tuesday.

"It is difficult to identify when a mental illness may have been a precursor
to incarceration and when, or if, it developed or worsened with incarceration,"
said Carole Brule, a lead researcher for the report by the Canadian Institute
for Health Information.

The report, titled Improving the Health of Canadians 2008: Mental Health, Delinquency
and Criminal Activity, looked at data gathered on more than 30,000
patients admitted to Ontario hospitals for mental illness between 2006 to 2007.

In all, 28 per cent reported having a criminal past, but it was not necessarily
the reason why they were committed to hospital, researchers say.

By contrast, one in 10 patients in the study group were found to be in the
mental health facility directly as a result of their criminal activity, such
as being placed there through a police- or court-imposed intervention program.

Schizophrenia was the most commonly diagnosed mental illness (54 per cent),
followed by substance-related disorders (38 per cent), the report said.

This led to "youth and adults with diagnosed mental illnesses (being)
overrepresented in Canada's correctional facilities," the researchers said.

Even so, the data do not fully describe the link between mental health problems
and jail time, Brule noted.

"What we need to do is look at more specific populations," she said.
"We want to look at aspects of mental health, coping aspects, self-esteem,
economics
and individual factors and then focus on the criminal factors."

One reason the link has been so hard to explain is that people with mental
illness who commit crimes are also more likely to be given extra support from
the justice system. This may prevent repeat offences, the research showed.

"Court diversion programs are in place to divert low-risk and non-violent
offenders away from the criminal system and divert them to more community-based
services," Brule said. "They produce lower rates of recidivism. It
seems to be working."

The report also explored the factors that could contribute to or lessen a person's
involvement in criminal activity.

Researchers found, for example, that youth aged 12 or 13 who identified themselves
as hyperactive and depressed were more likely to engage in aggressive
behaviour and delinquent activities like property damage.

By contrast, those aged 12 to 15 who showed high levels of self-esteem, good
stress management and self-motivation said that they didn't engage in any aggressive
behaviour, the report said.

"With this study we wanted to look upstream and downstream and at an overarching
approach to health at this point," Brule said. "We want to be able
to assist
people with mental health issues and identify what means of support are there
upon their release (from custody)."

The Canadian Institute for Health Information is a national non-profit organization
that collects and analyzes information on health and health care in
Canada.